Memoirs
by Sivan IXXX
Summary: Ezio will never forget the woman that he saved that day in Venice. In the short time that they were together, she gave him so much: happiness, laughter, love and lastly...life. EzioxOC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I feel like I've neglected Ezio for long enough, so I decided I'd give him at least one story in my works. The names will seem very familiar for those who've read my story, **_**A Beautiful Shade of Pink**_**. This is a vignette-style I've yet to use, so this story is sort of a trial run, but it's the real deal, so enjoy!**

**Note: Some of the canon details have been changed from the game.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ubisoft or any of its characters, so please don't sue.**

**Smitten**

Ezio Auditore.

Womanizer.

Quick-witted.

Hot-headed.

Yet gifted and deadly. He carried himself as if he knew that he was well aware of both his faults and his nobler qualities, and wore both proudly like a badge of honor. Whether singing from his window or casually strolling in his black doublet, his handsome, arrogant countenance drew the gaze of every passing female, whether married or not, rich or poor.

He had broken many hearts with his pearly white smile, his husky, Florentine brogue, and his boyish charm that worked like magic on the faint of heart and weak in constitution of the softer sex.

But his life of slaying the hearts of women and drawing them to his bed abruptly came to an end when he was not yet a fully grown man.

In the blink of an eye, he had lost his home, his father, and his two brothers, and a part of his mother died with them, as well.

Things would never be the same.

He became vengeful, angry, brooding, and dark like the shadow of the moon. Unwillingly, he donned the robes of his late father, Giovanni, and took up his blades and all that they meant, as well.

And he was plunged into the life of an Assassin.

With no real or lasting security, his friends became the vagrants of the city: courtesans, thieves, mercenaries, and sometimes even the homeless and destitute. While his previous home life had taught him how to live, they taught him how to survive.

After many years of hard training—scrambling across rooftops, dodging arrows, evading guards, and nursing cuts and bruises—Ezio had finally earned his place as an Assassin, the scalding on his ring finger being proof of it.

Though he was a man free to do whatever he wanted, and lived with the burning desire to avenge his family, something was still missing.

He hadn't forgotten about her after all these years. There was not any time for him to say a proper goodbye before he was forced into hiding all those years ago.

The way they had met was awkward—more for him than for her. He had never been so nervous around a woman before. But she was willing to give him a second chance when he had come to her aid.

She was considered the most beautiful woman in all of Florence, and she was very deserving of it. A permanent unity between them would have made them the two most powerful families in all of Firenze.

He had heard that she had gotten married; it wouldn't have taken long for her to find a willing suitor after he had disappeared. Seeing her again after all those years would awaken a desire in him that could no longer be fulfilled.

The half of the necklace she had given him was soon a forgotten memory.

Months passed after he left a part of his most cherished past behind, and he found himself in Venice, the city on the water.

The thief girl he had met cursed like a drunken patron, but one simple act of kindness made her soften towards him, and they fell into a relationship of sorts that neither had considered serious. It quickly ran its course, and the short-haired woman fully turned her attention to her work, while Ezio managed his own assignments.

And not too long after he had grown settled with being alone, his eye caught her.

Ezio Auditore was mesmerized by her the moment he saw her casually strolling down the cobblestone street.

Her bright green eyes studied the fruit on the stand before her while she contemplated which to purchase, her bronze hand floating over the red apples. He watched her from a corner that she could not see, and decided to pursue when she gave up.

But he was not the only one that had an eye on the raven-haired beauty.

The nobleman managed to corner her in a back alley, and she politely excused herself, but Ezio knew he wouldn't tolerate rejection.

The moment he pinned the girl between the wall and his body, Ezio sprang into action and knocked the man out cold before he turned to her.

She was even more pleasing to the eye up close. Apparently, she was surprised to have been rescued, because her full lips remained parted long after her attacker was rendered unconscious.

She looked to be no older than his sister, or perhaps a year or two younger. A mole adorned her right cheek, and her modest but fitted dress tastefully hid her entire silhouette from view, but he already knew that she was not a woman without healthy curves.

When she thanked him, he was reminded of why the birds sang and what it meant to hear the voices of the heavens.

He merely bowed his head and went on his way.

Ezio hoped that that encounter would not be their last.

For he was smitten.

**A/N: Okay, end of first vignette. How do you all like this style? Bad? Good? Anyway, for all you Ezio fans, I know Cristina didn't stop loving Ezio and vice versa, but a man knows when he can't have something he wants, he lets it go and moves on. So I wrote it so that he did move on with his life and left her alone.**

**The next part of the vignette features the dark beauty once again, and they get to know one another a bit more.**

**Ciao and á prego! (Sorry if this is wrong.)**

**-Sivan IXXX**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Chapter two!**

**Note: Some of the canon details have been changed from the game.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ubisoft or any of its characters, so please don't sue.**

**A Real Second Chance**

Ezio didn't know that he would encounter the girl again so soon. But he did.

He was busy detaining guards as a part of his most current mission when he spotted her out of all the other women in the crowd.

Instead of the sky blue she had worn just a week before, she was wearing a deep red, almost the shade of wine, the tails of her dress swaying behind her.

She would never think to look up towards the rooftops, so he intentionally followed her on solid ground, watching her skirts switch left and right as she walked. The men noticed her, of course, and their attention made his blood boil. They wanted nothing more than to lay with her and discard her like some forgotten article of clothing.

But was his intention not the same?

A woman like that was not worthy of such mistreatment; obviously, she came from great means, considering her garment looked to be tailored with French materials much like his own.

She never bothered to look back, though he could have touched her if he extended his arm forward. Her dark curls reminded him of the way a raven's feather would furl once discarded, and he knew them to be soft and velvety, so he wondered if her hair were the same.

His curiosity would go unsatisfied, however, when his target appeared from a heavily guarded building, wearing bright purple and grey. With most of his protection detained, isolating him would be much easier once he had the vantage of the roofs.

Bidding her a silent farewell, he found the nearest alley and climbed up the wall, scaling it easily and pulling himself up. His target moved steadily through the checkpoints, the bodies already discarded, until he reached his destination.

Ezio uncoiled his muscles and leaped, pressing all of his weight into the man's shoulders before he ended his life with his blade. The two guards accompanying him were no match for his skill and speed, and were dead within seconds.

A woman passing by noticed the scene and began to scream, drawing the attention of all nearby guards, and Ezio ran hard and fast in the opposite direction.

The city bell began to ring, and the crowds quickly panicked. Three of the smaller guards were hot on his trail, followed by several bigger men, and he cursed himself for not leaving immediately after having finished his job. He had a fight on his hands once they cornered him.

Once he had run out of options, he turned to them and faced them head on. The lithe guards were easy to handle, but the bigger, more powerful ones with heavy maces weren't so weak.

With each volley that he deflected, his hold on his sword grew weak until it was knocked from his hands and he was forced to use his hidden blades. Using his smaller size to his advantage, he moved in on the first, and plunged his blades into his helmet before moving to the next, who was already mid-swing.

Ezio raised his arm to absorb the impact, but his thin metal armor proved no match for the mace. The spikes collided painfully with his shoulder, and sank deep into his flesh, before ripping away from his body and his left arm was rendered useless.

Quickly, he picked up his discarded sword as the guard readied himself for another swing, and extended its sharp tip as he brought the mace down. The blade pierced his chest armor, and the sentry fell upon it until its hilt ceased him from falling any further.

The young Assassin wasted no time climbing the nearest ladder and began leaping over gaps and desperately searching for a place to hide. It was only a matter of time before they caught up with him again—and this time, they would most definitely overwhelm him.

Finally, he spotted an open window and the plant that hung above it and jumped, sailing through the air and grabbing the pot. The force behind his vault launched him into the room and sent him crashing into a bed. The pain was too overwhelming for him to scream, so he clenched his teeth and shut his eyes tight, willing it all to go away.

With his wound burning from agitation and seeping blood and a furious pounding in his head, he wanted to find the nearest wine cellar and break open a bottle to numb his senses.

As he sat with his back against the bed, his vision began to fade to black. Ezio didn't care who walked through the door to investigate the noise he had made. He just wanted to close his eyes and rest.

He heard soft, delicate footsteps, and then the door opened, followed by a quiet gasp.

_It's a woman_ he thought in relief, and let himself be overcome by the darkness.

**A/N: Alright, second chapter done! Does anyone think she sensed he was following her? I think she did, which is why she didn't turn around. Anyway, Ezio crashed into someone's room (I think we all know who), and fainted. We'll know for sure who it is in the next chapter.**

**Also: Does anyone feel this story is too fast-paced? Let me know by way of review, please! There'll be more dialogue in chapter 3 and the pacing will slow down some.**

**Ciao and á prego! (Sorry if this is wrong.)**

**-Sivan IXXX**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter three!**

**Note: Some of the canon details have been changed from the game.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ubisoft or any of its characters, so please don't sue.**

**She Has A Name**

Somehow, Ezio's dream involved him being tugged along a road shrouded in white mist. There was nothing on both sides, and just a dirt road beneath his feet. Who it was tugging him, he didn't know, but she had dark, curly hair. No matter how much he resisted, she kept pulling him forward. She never looked back at him, and when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out.

"Messere (Mister)," her gentle voice coaxed him out of his sleep and he opened his eyes.

It was the girl from earlier. Apparently, she had tried to move him, but he was too heavy. With the way her brows knitted together, she had to have been trying to for some time.

The Assassin was mesmerized by the intense forest green in her eyes. "Can you stand up?" she asked.

Finally, he found his voice and said yes, and she held onto his good arm as he struggled to stand. The loss of blood made him feel lightheaded, and he stumbled forward. She asked him to sit on the bed and he did so, watching as she went for the cloth and strips of linen on her dresser.

"You caused a lot of trouble today. But it seems every day, that bell rings," she said, placing them on the bed.

"It's necessary trouble," he replied.

"You need to take off your shirts," she quickly changed the subject.

"We just met and already you want to strip me down," he attempted to humor her. The girl held a straight face and he understood that she meant business. With his left arm in sore straights, he had to use just his right hand to undress himself, and failed miserably.

Silently, she stepped forward and began to help him, her movements light and swift. Piece by piece, he felt lighter and lighter until she got to his last layer, which needed to be pulled over his head.

"You'll have to have another made for you," she told him before she grabbed hold of the garment and ripped it in half. Carefully, she removed the blood-stained sleeve first, and then the other. Ezio waited for her reaction to his tanned upper body, and she seemed to not notice.

He couldn't say that he wasn't disappointed.

She wiped away the blood before placing the cloth over the wound, which were a mess of scratches and holes from where the spikes sunk into his flesh. "This will take some time to heal."

"I must go," he told her.

"They will catch you and kill you. You must stay."

And so he did. But not without learning more about the mysterious young woman.

She had a sister, seemingly older and quite the physical contrast. Her hair was long and blonde, and her skin was the color of cream. Her countenance was that of arrogance and yearning that he had seen on the faces of many women whose pastime was seducing men into their bed. He could only draw a few conclusions based on what he saw from the girl's bedroom window and the voices that carried through the hallway.

Elettra was her name, and while she was beautiful, she was also a woman even Ezio wouldn't bed. She hated her younger sister with a passion he associated with the man who ordered his father and brothers' deaths.

There were a few occasions when Nereza came with food, her eyes wet and her lip quivering, but she never let him see her cry. He tried to draw her out through conversation, but she always caught on to what he was trying to do.

As time went on, Ezio wondered how her father never figured out that she had had a man—an _Assassin_, at that— in her bedroom for the past two weeks. He sounded like a calm, reasonable man until he unleashed his anger on the girl and she hurried to her room. She tried not to seem panicked, but he could see that she was not comfortable in her own home.

That night, she examined his wound and said that he could leave whenever he pleased. Her hesitance to inform him of such made him wonder if she were unsure, or if she really didn't want him to leave. She was alone though she had her sister and father.

When he dressed and replaced his weapons on his body, she looked on curiously up until the moment he opened her window and turned to her.

He had forgotten something.

She stood still in her place as he approached her, and tensed when he wrapped his arms around her. "Grazie, belladonna (Thank you, beautiful woman)."

As cold as her family treated her, he could feel her warmth burning through her clothes.

But he could not stay forever. He let her go and started towards his exit.

"Nereza." Ezio paused and turned ever so slightly. "Nereza…is my name."

And from that day on, he swore in his heart to return to her so that she would not always feel alone.

**How sweet of Ezio to go out of his way to see her. Anyway, their relationship only deepens from this point, and her family will become more involved in how they interact with one another, Nereza towards Ezio in particular. Ciao and á prego! **

**-Sivan IXXX**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chapter four.**

**Note: Some of the canon details have been changed from the game.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ubisoft or any of its characters, so please don't sue.**

* * *

**Demons**

Ezio found that after leaving Nereza's house, that he couldn't stop thinking about her. He passed by many beautiful women, all interested in him, the mysterious stranger in the hood, but he was too distracted with trying to retain the sound of her voice saying her name.

_"Nereza."_ He had only been away from her for a few hours, but already he longed to see her again. Yet for the time being, he had a friend to visit.

"Ah, Ezio my friend! It's been a while since I last saw you. You've been staying out of trouble."

"I was forced to stay out of trouble, Leonardo. I nearly lost my life in a fight."

His brown-haired friend seemed to grow increasingly interested. "Go on. How did you escape?"

"By blind chance, I was able to clear them out and make it to the rooftops. I managed to jump through the open window of a friend."

"Really? Anyone I know?" he asked, tinkering with a small wooden contraption.

"No...I don't think so. She seems to be very private, shut in."

"She?" his tone denoted amusement. "Is she _really_ a friend or is she just another scratch on your bed post?"

"Her name is Nereza, and no, I haven't bedded her. If it weren't for her, I would have died. I know very little about her, but I owe her a great deal already."

"Hm...Usually, you go on and on about your conquests, so this Nereza girl must really be different from the rest. If you don't mind my asking, is the reason you haven't bedded her because she's unattractive?"

"No," he quickly retorted; his heart picked up in its pace as a vivid image of her appeared in his head. "She's far from plain. She's beautiful, perfect."

"A rare, delicate vessel, yes? The sunrise and the sunset? Your Venus?"

"Wait a moment," Ezio chuckled. "I'm not moved to spouting poetry like a lovesick teenager."_ At least not yet _he failed to mention. "Where is your newest invention that you wanted to show me?" He looked around the room, finding nothing new.

"It's not that kind of invention. We'll need to find a ladder to the roof..."

* * *

Once Ezio had finished with Leonardo's ingenious flying machine, he was forced to discard it into the water of the Venetian canals. It certainly helped him a great deal in finding his latest target, and the mission proved effortless. He was in need in fresh air and renewed purpose in life after his brush with death nearly a month before then and hadn't realized it until he was sailing through the air like a predatory bird over the streets of Venezia.

With his primary concern now lying cold in a pool of blood, his mind instantly returned to the dark beauty, and he felt the need to see her once again before he retired for the night.

Fortunate for him, her window was wide open again that night, and he climbed through, searching her dimly lit room.

What he found surprised him, and also shocked him.

Nereza had her back turned to him as she dressed for bed. With the back of her gown undone, he was able to admire the graceful, delicate curves of her body, but her skin was marred with bruises and welts.

She immediately felt his presence and whirled around to face him. Her eyes were wide in shock as they stared at one another. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came back to see you. What happened?" he asked, readying himself to go find the fool who had hurt her.

"Nothing," she replied, turning her face away from him. "I fell, is all."

Ezio moved towards her, and she flinched. "Nereza, those marks aren't from falling. Who did this?"

"No one."

"Nereza..."

"I said no one!" she replied tersely. "Now please leave."

And so he did.

And the Assassin left her alone for a few days, albeit watching her from a distance, studying her activities through the city during the day. She did nothing unusual: examine clothing stores, buy fruit and bread, and casually stroll through the streets.

He never caught her with a secret lover (which he was grateful for for more than one reason), and none of the men who had seemed to take keen interest in her pursued her to further their advances.

So who was hurting her?

It wasn't until he visited her again another three days after that that he found out the answer.

She came back to her room, quietly, broken, fragile. Her dress had been torn, and she was cradling the right side of her face in her hands.

He shifted his weight, and the creak of the floorboards alerted her to his presence. Nereza revealed her full face to him and quickly hid it from view, whether in embarrassment or shame, he didn't know.

But he was furious. "Ezio, please..." she begged quietly.

"No. I'm not leaving you. Not tonight." He approached her and she tried to move out of his grasp, but he was much too strong and she was too weak at the moment. Ezio let her bury her face in his robes and wet them with her silent tears.

He shushed her the way his mother used to do with him when he was a child and guided her to the bed. She continued to weep against his chest until she was too exhausted to do so anymore and just lay there with her head resting gently against him. Eventually she fell asleep and he continued to watch over her, too riled up to even think of closing his eyes.

Nereza needed a way to escape her demons.

* * *

**And so an update! Poor Nereza is getting beaten and Ezio is downright incensed. I figured he would hate wife beaters, considering how quickly he was willing to help that courtesan that had gotten hit by one of the patrons in ACII. But what sane guy wouldn't hate wife beaters?**

**But anyway, we'll find out more about Nereza and also meet some more familiar people from the game that Ezio comes across, including family. *hinthint***

**Be sure to check my profile for status updates!**


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